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Understanding the Real Value of Your Online Casino Deposit Bonus

You don't have to look far to find deposit bonuses from online casinos. There are banners everywhere enticing players to come and try out their latest offering. Register for fun play and your inbox will be filled with emails full of any number of promotions. Seldom do these offers come with no strings attached; they are almost always tied to some requirements that must be satisfied before any winnings are issued. Some casinos will link to them directly, but others bury these terms and you won't even know of their existence until you attempt to make a withdrawal. How often do you read these terms? If you're like most people, you won't read them at all. Unfortunately, without reading these terms you will have no way of knowing the true value of these promotions and some of these terms aren't easily understood, especially by novice players. By providing the information below our goal is to give you a down and dirty lesson on what makes a bonus worth taking and what you need to be looking for when considering the overall value of any given offer.

Your primary concern when it comes to bonuses is if you are able to cash it in once the wagering requirements have been met. These are referred to as "cashable" bonuses, whereas any bonus that is only allowed to be used for wagering purposes (i.e., to increase your bankroll, thereby giving you the opportunity to place more bets than you could afford to otherwise) is referred to as a "non-cashable" bonus. Clearly, cashable bonuses are the ones that are more likely to benefit the player; it's extremely difficult to extract any real value from a non-cashable bonus. So, if you're in search of the best deal, start with the cashable bonuses first.

When you find an appealing cashable bonus you'll want to look at the terms in order to identify the wagering requirements that apply to the game or games that you intend to play. Ideally, this would a low-advantage game that allows you to earn a higher-than-average payout. Examples of these types of games are blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and video poker. Examine the wagering requirements in order to determine, on average, just how much you might lose before you'll be allowed to withdraw any winnings. The calculation isn't difficult to perform, but to do it, you'll need to have all of the necessary information on hand.

Here's a simple example for demonstration purposes: imagine that you've received a 50% match bonus. In order to qualify for the bonus you must make a minimum deposit of $100. Furthermore, you must wager the bonus amount as well as the deposit amount a total of 20x. And, for argument's sake, let's say that there will be a house edge of 1% based on the game you've chosen. This means that you would need to wager $3000 in total and you should plan to lose approximately 1% of this total amount, which would be $30. Consequently, you stand to gain a profit of $20 on average with your extra $50 in bonus money. In this instance, depending on how long it takes you to satisfy the wagering requirements, this could be a good deal.

Not every bonus offers this kind of advantage. Don't be afraid to decline a promotional offer, but don't take it for granted that the bonus won't be applied automatically. Before you start playing, contact the casino's customer support team and make sure they do not apply the bonus so that you won't have to worry about any problems arising when it comes time to claim your winnings.